Papillon Parade Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Yesterday my b/f and I took the new album on a drive through the country and gave it a good concentrated listen. I am loving it! Bull Black Nova and I Fight are standouts for me. I love how each song sounds so different and can't wait to hear some live! Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I'm afraid I'm still stuck on "merely OK." There are songs that I liked right away, others that have grown on me, but others that I liked a lot more when I first heard them than I do now. (What's the opposite of a "grower"?) I'm not sure what I wanted from this album, but I guess I'm not finding whatever it was in this set of songs. The first half is pretty solid, but I don't love "Bull Black Nova" anywhere near as much as a lot of you do. I find it lacking in melody, and aside from a few interesting chord changes, there's just not much there. "You Never Know" is a decent choice for a single, but I think I'm already sick of it. "Country Disappeared" is not growing on me very fast. I think it is growing ... it's just not happening quickly. "I'll Fight" is this album's "Walken" for me. A song I probably should like but don't. And thanks to my girlfriend's reaction upon first hearing it, I'll always think of it as the Cameron Frye song. "Sonny Feeling" is very good, but once again, I don't love it nearly as much as a lot of you do. "Everlasting Everything" sounds like Jeff deliberately set out to write an album closer. There's a lot to like about this album for me, and overall it's not a bad listen, but I'm just not finding myself in love with it as much as I wanted to be. I won't bad-mouth it -- I mean, come on, whatever you might think, it's still better than 90% of what will come out this year -- but it won't crack my top 3 Wilco albums. I never fully warmed up to AGIB, and I think this one will follow a similar path. Link to post Share on other sites
Central Scrutinizer Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Please, folks, we are just trying to keep our forums clean, uncluttered, and easy to read.So Panther DIDN'T commit suicide. It was a CONSPIRACY! Link to post Share on other sites
Central Scrutinizer Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 There's a lot to like about this album for me, and overall it's not a bad listen, but I'm just not finding myself in love with it as much as I wanted to be. I won't bad-mouth it -- I mean, come on, whatever you might think, it's still better than 90% of what will come out this year -- but it won't crack my top 3 Wilco albums. I never fully warmed up to AGIB, and I think this one will follow a similar path.After repeated listenings, I'm inclined to agree with you, although it would take a lot to crack the top 3 anyway. Despite the rancor the album has drawn, I'd still lean towards SBS above W(TA). With the predecessor, the highs were higher -- and the lows were lower -- than W(TA). Here the songs are straightforward and, at times, sound a bit forced, or at least a bit of artistic diplomacy (an "Abbey Road" quality is a good metaphor). Here Wilco set out to do something, set a tone to its audience. SBS has the sound of guys getting together to make music; to please themselves. In this approach, Ricky Nelson had a good point. And I *love* the Cameron Frye reference. Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 "Everlasting Everything" sounds like Jeff deliberately set out to write an album closer.Owwwww-ch. Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 (What's the opposite of a "grower"?) Shrinkage? Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I wish I liked this song more - what's the opposite of a grower? A shrinker? That's what 'Icky Thump' is doing for me. Link to post Share on other sites
MattZ Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I sang Everlasting Everything to my 9 month old son the other night in a quiet moment before he went to sleep. He looked up at me with those big saucers he's got for eyes. And I don't say that for the Dad rock floodgates to open. One has nothing to do with the other. It's just a beatiful song to sing to someone you love. I don't think it was a cheap effort at an album closer. Link to post Share on other sites
dondoboy Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 So far the best description for me came from a friend, who said; "It seems very 'written' to me." Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I sang Everlasting Everything to my 9 month old son the other night in a quiet moment before he went to sleep. He looked up at me with those big saucers he's got for eyes. And I don't say that for the Dad rock floodgates to open. One has nothing to do with the other. It's just a beatiful song to sing to someone you love. I don't think it was a cheap effort at an album closer. That Link to post Share on other sites
Central Scrutinizer Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 That Link to post Share on other sites
ih8music Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 i dont really enjoy the harmony chorus on "I Dont Care Anymore" on You Never Know.thanks for posting that. I was starting to think I'm the only one who's bugged by this song (especially the backing vocals)... I guess there are two of us. Link to post Share on other sites
hawthorne Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 thanks for posting that. I was starting to think I'm the only one who's bugged by this song (especially the backing vocals)... I guess there are two of us. I'll third that. What Light was the single from SBS, now You Never Know is this album's single. Someone needs to tell these guys that "catchy" and "annoying" are not synonymous. Link to post Share on other sites
MattZ Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 someone else made the Abbey Road comparison but i really don't hear it one bit. what's your argument for that? I am not sure who made the initial point (too lazy to go back), but I hear some Abbey Road-esque nods in Country Disappeared. As in, that little instrumental break after "news crew anchorman." Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Wouldn't "30+ somethings" describe Steve Tyler's DAUGHTER? Oh my head you Link to post Share on other sites
Jesusetc84 Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Given almost everyone who remembers the alternative explosion is old enough to have kids, shouldn't we call the 70s rock radio sound "grandpa rock"? Link to post Share on other sites
jracette Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Don't post here much, sporadically since Wilco's visit here in Alaska last summer sparked me to join the forum. Long time fan, bought a copy of Being There in 96 (was 16) and it more or less changed my life. I have many thoughts about this album, Wilco's recent output, reactions here, etc., and I can't really cohere them. This will be a ramble. I like The Album better than Sky Blue Sky. Sky Blue Sky was a disappointment. The Album is less of one, but some of it still chaps me. I really like several of the tunes here. I love The Song. I love that 13 years after Being There, in my mind the ultimate album about what being a fan of rock and roll means, Wilco are willing to deliberately tear down the fourth wall and address their fans in a heartfelt manner. I think that is a brave and meaningful gesture in an era that still suffers from the ironic detachment that, for better and worse, has pervaded modern rock. I love One Wing but it was better in its live incarnation - I miss the extended squall of noise at the end and I think the song suffers from the abbreviated, more polite soloing. Bull Black Nova is awesome but not better than spiders, and I don't even know why so many are comparing it to that tune. The middle instrumental section (where the rhythm changes and we get the melodic guitar interlude) is out of place, I feel. It doesn't contribute to the rising tension in the tune that is its main strength. What I really like about it lyrically is that it's Tweedy clearly writing in character (more on this in a bit). You and I, You Never Know, and I'll Fight are really nice tunes, I feel they are on the enjoyable side of the "sunny 70s pop/irritating soft rock" continuum. This is as good as it gets in terms of Wilco exploring this territory, and I don't know that they can continue to mine it without starting to miss more than they hit. Especially since Country Disappeared and Everlasting Everything are the real clunkers on the album to me and represent the bad side of that coin. Last specific song I need to say something about is Sonny Feeling - there's no song that highlights what negative thoughts I have about this era of Wilco better than this one. And the bottom line is that this song is perfect without that lap steel over the verses and chorus. The lap steel damn near wrecks an awesome pop song. If you want to point to one musical moment in the Wilco canon that gives fuel to the "dad rock" nay-sayers (more on this below as well), this is it. This could be somewhat of a can of worms for those who have followed the band for a long time, scars of the war between the alt-country purists that felt the band went wayward after Being There and the ones who aggressively push the band towards avant-garde experimentalism. I've never understood or taken sides in that debate because to me what makes Wilco my favorite band is that they've done so many things so ridiculously well. The Americana/roots/whatever side in Being There (and AM, but I think general consensus is that AM is minor Wilco), the pop perfection in Summerteeth, the sonic experimentation of YHF/AGIB... all of these are among my very favorite albums. So that's not the point of my distaste for that lap steel. It's just so out of place, and recorded in a way and in a context that is reminiscent of some really bad music. It sounds cheesy, and not in a good way. I can't fully describe it, but I have a hunch if you agree with what I'm saying you know exactly what I mean, and if you disagree with me you have no idea what I'm saying. All of which brings me to the big debate about Wilco's direction, etc. Yes, I am one of those who feel that SBS and W(TA) are not up to the standard of the band's 96-04 recorded output. That doesn't make me a bad fan. It just means that they are currently drawing from influences (70s classic rock, non-punk, metal, or glam) who themselves split my opinion. There's territory there that makes for really awesome music (late Beatles/Harrison influences noted by others on this album are obvious) and territory in the same constellation that, frankly, I can't stand. It's this crappy side of that era that drives the "dad-rock" criticisms. I sympathize with the dads on the board who take offense to this epithet and think it's kind of unfair, so call it "soft-rock," call it "lite," call it whatever, but they are just in a section of their record collection that has a lot of good music and a lot of bad music, and some of the bad is seeping into their albums. Simple as that. You could probably make one good album in this vein taking parts from SBS and W(TA) that are on the right side of that coin, make a couple of production tweaks, and you'd have an album that I love every bit as much as the previous four. At any rate, I certainly feel that they've mined this stuff as extensively as they can and its time to move on. This is the closest by far Wilco has come to making the same album twice in a row and they need some new inspiration. Which brings me to my second and probably more important point. I don't get the sense that these last two albums have been driven by the same singular obsession/compulsion to explore a specific theme as the band's peak output was. Each of the four best Wilco albums have a sense of purpose, of trying to get at something that is gnawing away at Tweedy. I don't get that sense with these last two albums. Which is why Bull Black Nova strikes me as such a potentially exciting direction (aside from the fact that musically it is in a somewhat different direction that much of other late model Wilco). I'd love to see Tweedy doing more character study, writing from the perspective of someone who very clearly not him - in past albums there has been so much of himself in the lyrics but I don't get that from BBN. I want more of Tweedy as an observer of the world around him, trying to get inside the heads of others. That's a lot of crap to read. Sorry. Thanks for your attention. Nothing here is meant to antagonize people who love SBS and W(TA) as much as any other Wilco album. Part of being a fan is talking and debating about the music with others who are fans. I also don't presume to dictate to the band what kind of music they should and should not be making. Methinks that a few of the "Wilco can do no wrong" crowd and a few of the "SBS and/or W(TA) blow(s)" crowd could stand to chill. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Speed Racer Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Which brings me to my second and probably more important point. I don't get the sense that these last two albums have been driven by the same singular obsession/compulsion to explore a specific theme as the band's peak output was. Thank you for the post - I really appreciated your input. Oddly enough, reading this post made me realize that SBS and W(TA) do have a specific theme like the band's peak output does (I agreed with your statement until reading it, if that makes sense!). For BT, ST, YHF, and AGIB I think the unifying theme was, "What does this all mean?" For SBS and W(TA), I think the theme is, "Well, it is what it is." And I like that; I think that's as good a unifying theme as any, and that's really where I've been in my life lately. Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Last specific song I need to say something about is Sonny Feeling - there's no song that highlights what negative thoughts I have about this era of Wilco better than this one. And the bottom line is that this song is perfect without that lap steel over the verses and chorus. The lap steel damn near wrecks an awesome pop song. If you want to point to one musical moment in the Wilco canon that gives fuel to the "dad rock" nay-sayers (more on this below as well), this is it. This could be somewhat of a can of worms for those who have followed the band for a long time, scars of the war between the alt-country purists that felt the band went wayward after Being There and the ones who aggressively push the band towards avant-garde experimentalism. I've never understood or taken sides in that debate because to me what makes Wilco my favorite band is that they've done so many things so ridiculously well. The Americana/roots/whatever side in Being There (and AM, but I think general consensus is that AM is minor Wilco), the pop perfection in Summerteeth, the sonic experimentation of YHF/AGIB... all of these are among my very favorite albums. So that's not the point of my distaste for that lap steel. It's just so out of place, and recorded in a way and in a context that is reminiscent of some really bad music. It sounds cheesy, and not in a good way. I can't fully describe it, but I have a hunch if you agree with what I'm saying you know exactly what I mean, and if you disagree with me you have no idea what I'm saying. I have no idea what you are saying. Link to post Share on other sites
Ghost of Electricity Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 a bold post jracette, and i agree with many points, but on your harsh condemnation i had to go back and listen to sunny feeling again and pay a bit more attention to the lap. And though i would wager that it might be one of those nels overdubs after the boys returned from NZ and might be a bit pasted on, it's not offensive to my ears. Link to post Share on other sites
RainDogToo Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Just out of curiosity, for all those who don’t like “Country Disappeared,” Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Speed Racer Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Just out of curiosity, for all those who don Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Just out of curiosity, for all those who don Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts